Lone Wolf
by EruditeTimeLord
Summary: It's Remus Lupin's first year at Hogwarts. Remus is reluctant to become friends with anyone. Soon he meets James and Sirius, and he learns what it means to be loyal.
1. Chapter 1

On my 11th birthday, I didn't know what to expect. Surely Hogwarts couldn't let someone like me in, but as the day went on I grew more anxious. I couldn't focus on anything without getting a knot in my stomach what if my letter didn't come? I'd be an outcast in both the muggle and wizarding worlds. After lunch, I was supposed to be cutting vegetables for dinner, but I must've gotten distracted because my father came over. He put his muscular hand on my shoulder. I set the knife down, mid-cut. He knelt down and we were eye to eye. "Remus, what's wrong?" I didn't know what to say. If I tell him, he'll just say some stupid encouragement. I just shrug my shoulders. I don't meet his gaze. "Remus," he says softly "we are all nervous on our 11th birthday. It'll come, don't worry. Dumbledore's a good man. Hearing that from my father lifted my spirits, even after it started raining. After dinner, I opened up my presents. I got an autographed quidditch jersey from my uncle who plays for England, and some novels from my parents. The rest of the day went by very slowly. My anxiety and impatience kept me from focusing on whatever I was doing. Every time something made a noise, I jumped up, thinking it was an owl. I was getting ready to go to bed when my mother came in. She is tall and has amber colored hair that shines even when there's very little light. She was holding a small envelope in her hand. "Remus, this came for you." I stand up, hands shaking from the nervousness. I take the letter. On the back of the small envelope, there is a red wax stamp with the Hogwarts house crest. I recognized the serpent of Slytherin, the lion of Gryffindor, the eagle of Ravenclaw, and the badger of Hufflepuff. I held my breath as I opened the letter. "I can go! I'm actually going to Hogwarts! I'm gonna be a real wizard!" I yelled, ecstatic. My mother made no attempt to calm me down. I ran over and threw my arms around her. "Congratulations, Remus." 


	2. Chapter 2

As the summer came to a close, my parents took me to Diagonal Alley to get my supplies. I got all brand new stuff, even though my parents don't have a lot of money. I felt kind of sad that I let my parents spend that kind of galleons on me. First we went to Ollivander's to get my wand. It took me five tries for him to find the perfect wand for me. Ollivander was kind and never got impatient. The one that finally worked is 10 inches long, mahogany, with a single unicorn hair. There is a bulb at one end, and it makes it easier to hold. The next stop was to get robes. I'm not a patient person, so standing still for that long got on my nerves. My favorite part of the trip was Eeylop's Owl Emporium. There were so many owls of all shapes and sizes to choose from. I finally settled on a speckled brown barn owl. I named him Leo. It was almost impossible to keep me focused. I read all the time to get my mind off things. I wanted to go and check out the novels and I even got sidetracked more than once, to the annoyance of my mother. A week later, we were at King's Cross Station. I was puzzled why my tickets said the train came at platform 9 and 3/4. We got to the station an hour early. I sat on the bench and fiddled with my wand, looking at the floor. Leo hooted when I noticed a boy with messy black hair standing right in front of me. "Hi! I'm James. What's your name?" I avoided his gaze. "Remus." I mumbled. At that moment, another boy with neat hair came up. He thrust his hand out and introduced himself as Sirius. They sat down and we talked about quidditch, the houses, and our hopes for the year. Immediately, I could tell that Sirius is the rebellious child and James is the leader, charismatic and confident. The time went by quickly, and before we knew it, the scarlet train came down the tracks. I loaded my stuff on, cursing under my breath. James, Sirius, a short, chubby boy named Peter and I all sat together. The long ride went by quickly. We were telling stories too eccentric to believe, laughing and showing off our talents. Before we knew it, we were at the castle. We scrambled to change into our first year robes and climbed out of the train. 


	3. Chapter 3

"Firs' years! This way!" A tall man with thick brown hair and matching beard yelled. James, Sirius and I went over to him. "I'm Rubeus Hagrid. I'm the groundskeeper. Now, have we got everyone?" We all looked around. All the older students were gone. We started to go away from the castle and towards a lake. There were whispers from the students. "Are they gonna make us swim across?" "Is that how we are going to be sorted. As we got closer, we could see that fortunately, we wouldn't have to swim. There were boats that looked only big enough for 4 of us. "Climb in, in a few minutes, we'll be off. Oh an' watch out for the squid in the lake" With that, the crowd went silent. We suddenly started moving across the lake. There must've been a spell on the boats because they moved themselves across the water. We got to the castle less than five minutes later. Once inside, a woman with perfect posture greeted us. "Settle down first years." She didn't need to tell us to be quiet, we were all to nervous to speak. "Through these doors is the Great Hall where you will all be sorted into your houses. Now, your houses will be your family for the duration of the year. If one student does something wrong, your whole house will be reprimanded, so be careful." Someone behind us snickered and the woman yelled "Malfoy! That's enough from you!" We were led into the Great Hall. The Hall went silent, and a man with speckled glasses and a long, flowing beards was standing in the middle of the table at the front of the room. "When I call your name, come and sit on the stool to be sorted." The same woman as earlier said. The first to be sorted was a red haired girl named Molly. She was sorted to Gryffindor. Apparently, you're sorted with a hat. James went, then Sirius. Both Gryffindors. I hope to be in Gryffindor, and not to lose the friends I just made. All of a sudden, the woman said "Lupin, Remus!" I looked back and James gave me a thumbs up. Nervously, I walked to the front and sat on the chair. 


	4. Chapter 4

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat boomed. For being a hat, it sure is loud. I got down and sat next to James as fast as I could. I don't like being up in front of people. We sat down and somewhat patiently waited. The last person sorted was a Raveclaw named Xenophilius. Then, the man with the half moon glasses stood up. The room went silent. "Welcome to another year of learning at here at Hogwarts. First, let's introduce our professors. Professor McGonagall teaches transfiguration. Professor Slughorn teaches potions. Professor Moody teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts. And Professor Binns teaches The History of Magic. A word to all students: the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to all students. Without further ado, let the feast begin!" He clapped his hands and food appeared. We didn't realize how hungry we were until we sat down. I dug in, finishing my plate in a matter of minutes. With his mouth half full, James turned to Sirius, "I always knew I'd be in Gryffindor, eh Sirius?" Sirius shrugged and said "Nah, I'm the first one in my family not in Slytherin." He glared over at the Slytherin table. James turned to me, expectant. I wanted to tell them the truth. But I wouldn't know how they would react. I decided to just play along. "My mum was in Ravenclaw l, but my dad was a Gryffindor. So really I had a 50/50 chance either way" "Ooh, we gotta smartie pants over here Sirius. Watch out or he'll beat you in tests. Stay on his good side, we may need to copy his homework answers." James said, sarcastically. I laughed and ate James' leftovers. A couple minutes later, Dumbledore stood up and told prefects to lead us back to the house dormitories. We went outside, took a couple of turns and got to a staircase. But before anyone could move, the staircase went to the opposite side of the hallway and a new one came in its place, facing down instead of up. "Watch out for the staircases. Don't want to be late to class." The male prefect informed us. After finding the right staircase, we got to a painting of a lady who, frankly, was just a bit overweight. "Drago!" The prefect said to the painting and it swung open. Before we stepped inside, he turned to us and said "Remember that. It's the password for the common room. Without it, you'll not be able to get in." He led us in. Th room was huge, with tables, desks and chairs of all sorts to do homework on. There was one central fireplace, with couches surrounding it. "Girl's dormitories on the right, boy's in the left!" With that, my new best friends and I ran up to claim beds. 


End file.
